by Lee Hollis
“Fifty grand!” Hammersmith howled. “That’s outrageous!”
“That’s what I said!” Liddy wailed.
“Your Honor, it’s totally unreasonable for the prosecution to request such an unfair bail amount when these three women are pillars of their community, and are only here in Salmon Cove to support our economy with their tourist dollars—”
“They’re here because they allegedly broke the law and that’s all I’m concerned about. But your point is well taken, Mr. Hammersmith. I’m setting bail at five thousand per defendant,” the judge said, banging his gavel. “Next case.”
Liddy turned to Oliver Hammersmith. “Do they accept credit cards? I can cover all three of us with my American Express Platinum card. I really want the Delta SkyMiles for my flight to Paris in the fall.”
“Liddy, if they convict us, you will not be going to Paris or anywhere else except a jail cell!” Hayley squealed.
“We’re not going to get convicted,” Mona said calmly. “Sheriff Bitch-Face is trying to railroad us and we’re going to stop her in her tracks.”
“How are we going to do that? We actually did enter that hotel room illegally, we actually did tamper with evidence by searching Jackson Young’s belongings, and to put the cherry on top, we have a lawyer who falls asleep standing up during our court hearing!” Hayley said, dissolving into full panic mode.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, ladies,” Hammersmith said, zipping up his leather briefcase, which was scuffed and completely falling apart. “The court does not accept credit cards. Only a certified cashier’s check from a licensed bond bailsman.”
“Well, that’s it, then. We’re going back to jail. It’ll be at least two days before we can arrange all of that,” Hayley said, resigned.
“Hayley, honey, please tell me you are all right!” a woman’s voice cried from behind them.
They all turned to see Polly Roper, in a flower-print blouse, navy skirt, and a straw floppy hat, rushing into the courtroom.
“I was having my morning coffee at the café this morning, and overheard someone say some tourists had been arrested. Well, when I called your cell phone three times and kept getting your voice mail, I got worried.”
“It was confiscated when we were arrested,” Hayley said, hugging Polly.
“I stopped by the police station and the officer on duty told me you were in court for your hearing so I ran right over,” Polly said breathlessly. “How can I help?”
“You can find us a reputable bail bondsman,” Hayley said, relieved.
“My bridge partner, Bessie! She’s the local bail bondsman and notary public. I’ll go over there immediately and post your bail.”
“Polly, I can’t ask you to do that,” Hayley said.
“Nonsense, what are friends for? I trust you three not to blow town,” Polly said, laughing.
“Don’t bet on it,” Mona announced.
“Mona!” Hayley snapped before turning back to Polly. “She’s joking. I promise!”
“There’s just one catch,” Polly said, suddenly dead serious.
Oh no.
“What?”
“I’ve been devouring your columns at the Island Times website ever since we became buddies, and your recipes sound delicious. I’ll post your bail if you promise to give me a lobster recipe you haven’t shared with anyone else!”
“Deal! Deal! I’ll give you every family recipe I have! Anything!”
“I’ll have you all out by lunchtime,” Polly said, racing out of the courtroom.
Polly was true to her word.
By the time the noon bell rang at the local fire department, Sheriff Daphne had released Hayley, Liddy, and Mona, and they gratefully hugged Polly, who was at the station to pick them up. And as if she hadn’t been generous enough, she immediately escorted them across the street to the Sunshine Café and treated them to lunch. They slid into a booth, Hayley and Polly on one side and Liddy and Mona on the other.
“Polly, we can’t thank you enough,” Hayley said, exhausted but relieved.
“It was my pleasure,” Polly said, perusing the menu. “I know how difficult and bullheaded Sheriff Daphne can be, and I suspect I know why she has it out for you.”
“Why?” Liddy asked.
“Her,” Polly said, pointing at Mona.
“Me? What the hell did I do?” Mona roared.
“Sheriff Daphne doesn’t care that you three trespassed by letting yourself in Jackson Young’s hotel room. She’s actually upset that Mona here trespassed on her territory.”
“What territory?” Hayley asked.
“Corey Guildford.”
“I’m not following,” Liddy said, confused.
“Daphne and Corey have been casually dating for the last nine or ten months!”
“That lying son of a—” Mona bellowed.
“Now calm down, Mona,” Polly said, slapping her arm with her menu. “It’s nothing serious, at least according to Corey. They’ve gone out a few times, and frankly at this point, I have no idea where they stand. But Daphne, from everything I’ve heard, fell hard, and is somewhat obsessed with him.”
“So when she saw him around town with Mona, it sent her into a tailspin,” Hayley declared, pounding her fist on the table. “Now it all makes sense. The traffic tickets, the stern warnings to leave town, they were all a means to get rid of us so Daphne could have Corey all to herself.”
“What’s she worried about? I’m a married woman!” Mona said.
“She doesn’t know that. You never wear a wedding ring,” Liddy said, pointing to Mona’s bare ring finger.
“Well, that’s only because I gained some weight over the years and the ring doesn’t fit on my fat finger anymore!”
“You’re not the first people to suffer from Daphne’s abuse of power,” Polly said, leaning forward. “She set her sights on Sue a while back too.”
“What did she do?”
“Same as Mona, she got together with Corey. Just a couple of innocent dinners, nobody seriously thought they were dating, they were just friends, but Daphne went wild and started showing up at the Starfish Lounge, making sure they weren’t serving minors, double-checking her liquor license, inspecting the place for health code violations, things that weren’t even in her jurisdiction.”
“Has anyone reported this behavior?”
“To the police? She is the police. And the Town Council has their heads buried in the sand. They don’t want any trouble.
“Once Sue got the message, she dropped Corey like a hot potato, even as a friend. I’m surprised she still allows him to hang out at her bar. Daphne started leaving her alone when she saw Sue being wined and dined by another man these past few months.”
“Who?” Liddy asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Polly said, smirking.
“Try us,” Hayley said, bursting with curiosity.
“Rufus.”
“The town drunk?”
“That’s the one,” Polly said, glancing around to make sure none of the other diners were eavesdropping.
“Talk about strange bedfellows!” Liddy exclaimed. “He’s got to be at least thirty years older than her!”
“It could just be a sweet friendship that Sue is playing up just to keep Daphne off her back, but one never knows!” Polly chirped, embracing her role as Salmon Cove’s resident gossip.
Sue and Rufus?
This town just kept getting weirder and weirder.
Chapter 19
After leaving Polly, who had to rush off to judge a pie-baking contest at the senior center, Hayley, Liddy, and Mona walked back to Liddy’s Mercedes, which was parked near the hotel where they had left it before they were arrested. Hayley immediately spotted the white envelope flapping up and down in the breeze underneath the windshield wiper. She glanced up at the sign directly in front of the car, which read NO OVERNIGHT PARKING.
“Well, all I can say is, this is the first legitimate ticket we’ve received
since we set foot in this town,” Hayley said, shaking her head.
“Can we just go back to the cabin so I can take a nap? I didn’t get one moment’s rest in that nasty jail cell,” Mona whined.
Liddy fished out her car keys from her purse and pressed the remote, unlocking the doors. They all reached for their respective door handles, when suddenly they were stopped in their tracks by a high-pitched shrill.
“Well, look who’s here!” a woman’s voice screeched.
“Oh, Lord, it’s them!” Liddy said, her whole body tensing up.
“Who?” Hayley asked.
“Bill and Vera from Ohio. They are the most annoying people I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. Quick! Pretend we didn’t hear her and get in the car, and let’s get the hell out of here!”
They all scrambled to get their doors open and to pile inside the Mercedes, but they were just not fast enough. The couple were on top of them in seconds. Hayley hadn’t gotten a good look at them the other night at the bar. They were fresh-faced and young, probably in their late twenties or early thirties. He was tall, skinny, dark, with hairy arms and legs, and wore thick black glasses that just made his huge eyes more pronounced. She was a wispy blond flower child in a rucksack dress.
Liddy sighed, gathered her strength, and then swung around to greet them with a big fake smile. “Bill and Vera! How are you?”
“It is Buck and Vanessa,” the young man corrected her, grinning from ear to ear, not offended at all.
“Right. Buck and Vanessa,” Liddy said, turning and pointing at her friends. “These are my friends Hayley and Mona.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hayley said politely.
Mona just grunted. She was tired. And when Mona was tired, her manners evaporated and her whole demeanor got ugly.
“They’re from Ohio,” Liddy offered.
“Iowa,” Vanessa corrected her.
“Right. I almost got it. They’re right next door to each other,” Liddy said through gritted teeth.
“Actually, they’re not,” Vanessa said with a giggle.
“Okay, so there’s one state between them,” Liddy whispered, desperate to change the subject.
“Not even close,” Vanessa insisted. “There’s Ohio, then you move west and there is Indiana and Illinois and then you get to Iowa.”
“Who cares? It’s the Midwest! All those states are pretty much the same!” Liddy screamed, determined to end this impromptu geography lesson.
“People in the Midwest sure do care. We’re very proud of where we come from,” Vanessa said, remarkably still with a bright smile on her face.
“Liddy is right about one thing, honey. We are all the same. We are all Americans,” Buck said.
Hayley half expected him to break out into a verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“That’s why we’re on this RV tour of our great country, getting to know its people and the different traditions and history of each state. Iowa can be somewhat of a bubble,” Buck said.
“So you quit your jobs and are just driving around in a camper? How long do you expect to keep this up?” Hayley asked.
“For as long as we’re happy. We sold our home five years ago, our parents bought it for us as a wedding present, but we weren’t interested in going the typical route of getting nine-to-five jobs, having babies, drowning in debt, so we chucked everything, sold the house and bought this camper and just pretty much go where the wind takes us,” Buck said proudly.
“But with no jobs, how do you live? How do you pay for food?”
“It was a big house,” Vanessa said with a wink.
In a way, Hayley admired them for living free and unencumbered, having no responsibilities except paying for gas and a hamburger at a truck stop.
“The best part is getting to know all the locals when we land in their towns,” Buck said. “On the whole, everybody is real open and friendly, especially here in Salmon Cove.”
“Yes, we’ve met some nice people here too,” Hayley said.
“And some not so nice,” Liddy quickly added. “Well, it’s been a pleasure but we really need to—”
“People tend to open up to strangers and talk about things they might not normally discuss with someone they know. Like what happened to that poor travel writer Mr. Young, who was so brutally killed down on the beach a few days ago,” Vanessa said, ignoring Liddy’s cue that she wanted to leave.
“Yes, it was horrible,” Hayley said, commiserating. “Just such an unimaginable thing to happen in such a quaint town.”
“We heard before he was murdered, he was seen hanging around you, Liddy,” Buck said, eyeing her intensely.
This surprised Liddy, and took her off guard. She fumbled and stuttered a quick response. “Well, yes, I met him. But I hardly knew him.”
“Well, according to the clerk at the hotel when you tried to check in but there were no rooms, Mr. Young appeared to be quite taken with you. What word did he use, Vanessa?” Buck said, turning to his wife.
“Smitten,” Vanessa said.
“Right. That’s the word,” Buck said, smiling, as he returned his gaze to Liddy, his eyes boring into her. “He was smitten with you.”
“I suppose so, yes, but apparently it didn’t last long. We made a date to attend the lobster bake, and he stood me up,” Liddy said, supremely uncomfortable discussing this topic with two strangers.
“That must have made you very angry,” Vanessa said.
“It did. I do not have a history of being stood up by men,” Liddy said with a defensive tone as she spun around to garner support from her friends. “Isn’t that right?”
“No, she has men lining up to impress her,” Hayley said, toeing the party line.
“What are you talking about? Sonny just dumped her!” Mona piped in, bored and grouchy.
“How many times do I have to tell you we are just taking a break . . . and apparently seeing other people!” Liddy wailed.
Buck deftly tried to turn the conversation back to Jackson Young. “Do you think there could have been another reason . . . besides your obvious charm and beauty . . . why Jackson was interested in you?”
“What? What do you mean? Of course it was my charm and beauty! What are you getting at? And why are you asking me all these personal questions!”
“You will have to forgive Buck, Liddy,” Vanessa interjected. “Driving around in an RV all the time can be quite boring so he tends to find unusual ways to entertain himself, like getting involved in other people’s dramas.”
“Then take some of that house money and get a Netflix subscription! You can spend every night watching dramas!” Liddy yelled.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to take offense . . .” Buck said, reaching out and touching Liddy’s arm.
She recoiled. She was done with these two. “If you’ll excuse us, we need to go now! It’s been a long, restless night and we didn’t sleep a wink in jail—”
“Jail? You’ve been in jail?” Vanessa asked, eyes widening. “Why?”
“It is none of your business!” Liddy shouted. “Girls, please, let’s just get the hell out of here!”
Liddy went to open the driver’s-side door, but Hayley gently moved her aside and steered her toward the backseat. There was no way she was going to allow Liddy to drive a car in her current frazzled condition.
They all piled inside, and Hayley drove off, watching Buck and Vanessa in the rearview mirror. They just stood there, watching them, stone-cold sober looks on their faces, hardly the bubbly, bouncy couple they had first appeared to be.
Who were they?
And why were they so interested in Liddy’s connection to Jackson Young?
Chapter 20
When Hayley pulled the Mercedes onto the dirt road that led to the cabin, she immediately felt a sense of unease. When she could see the cabin she noticed the front door was wide open, and her fears were confirmed.
“Mona, did you remember to lock the door when we left?”
&n
bsp; “Of course I did!” Mona barked defensively.
They all jumped out of the car, leaving their luggage they had packed in the trunk, and trudged over to the door to inspect it.
The wood on the frame was severed and the lock on the door was mangled.
“Somebody must have used an ax or a sledgehammer to bust their way in,” Mona said, shocked.
They slowly poked their heads inside to look around.
The place was ransacked. Chairs were tipped over on the floor. The lumpy old couch in the center of the room had been torn apart and stuffing spread everywhere. Even the ratty old curtains on the windows had been ripped off the rods and cast aside.
Mona cautiously stepped inside first to survey the damage, followed closely behind by Hayley and then Liddy, who kept herself close to the door for a quick escape if necessary.
“What were they looking for?” Liddy asked, visibly shaken.
“Beats me,” Mona said, shuffling around the room, kicking into a corner some broken glass that had smashed on the floor when the intruder, or intruders, had cleared off the kitchen counter of some beer mugs and dishware. “But they sure as hell did do a number on this place!”
“Do you think this has anything to do with Jackson Young’s murder?” Liddy asked.
“I haven’t a clue,” Hayley said, shrugging.
“Should we call the police?” Liddy asked, searching her bag for her phone.
Hayley scoffed. “What for? Sheriff Daphne won’t care. She probably won’t even bother to show up here let alone investigate.”
“To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was her doing to scare us into leaving town,” Mona said, walking around the room, carefully picking up a couple shards of glass before anyone stepped on them.
“Oh, Mona, I don’t know if she would go to those lengths . . .” Liddy said.
“She’s made no bones about keeping me from Corey. And she’s proven she’ll do anything to make that happen by falsely arresting us!”
“Well, it’s only fair to point out again that we did enter that hotel room knowing it was illegal,” Hayley reminded her.
“Whose side are you on?” Mona growled.
